Vimal Mishra is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the UW.

Abstract:

There is both global and regional evidence that climatic extremes have
increased in recent decades. I report an analysis of trends in
hydroclimate across the continental U.S. during the period 1950-2009.
I show that in the 100 largest urban areas in the U.S., several
measures of precipitation extremes have changed, with a large
predominance of increases. Moreover, trends in temperature extremes,
especially those related to daily minimum temperatures, have changed
in many of the urban areas; almost all changes reflect temperature
increases. Furthermore, across the continental U.S. over the same
period, many streams experienced significant increases in extreme
streamflow. I discuss the combined nature and implications of these
changes: temperature and precipitation extremes affect urban energy
demand and stormwater management, whereas changing streamflow extremes
may affect freshwater habitat.